Resolve Kashmir issue bilaterally: China tells India, Pak

Says it’s left over from history, hopes increase in dialogue between two neighbours

Agencies

Beijing, Sep 22: China on Friday said the Kashmir issue should be resolved bilaterally by India and Pakistan through talks, while dismissing calls by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation for implementation of the UN resolution on the dispute.

Asked about the contact group of the OIC calling for the implementation of the UN resolution on Kashmir, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said the issue should be resolved between India and Pakistan.

“China has noted the relevant report. China’s position on the Kashmir issue is clear-cut,” Lu said, in response to a question.

“The Kashmir issue is left over from history. China hopes India and Pakistan can increase dialogue and communication and properly handle relevant issues and jointly safeguard regional peace and stability,” he said.

The 57-member OIC, of which Pakistan is a member, routinely passes a resolution on Kashmir calling for the implementation of the UN resolution.

The contact group of the OIC met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly two days ago.

At UNGA, India says J&K is, will remain country’s integral part

Pak warns New Delhi against ‘limited war’ doctrine

Geneva, Sep 22: Pakistan is now “Terroristan”, India has said in a reply at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi calling for a special envoy to Kashmir while alleging that the “struggle of the people in the region is being brutally suppressed by India”.

Addressing the India’s Right of Reply during the general debate of 72nd session of the United Nations General Assembly, India’s First Secretary to the UN, Eenam Gambhir, said, “In its short history, Pakistan has become a geography synonymous with terror. The quest for a land of pure has actually produced ‘the land of pure terror.’ Pakistan is now ‘Terroristan’, with a flourishing industry producing and exporting global terrorism.”

In the statement, Gambhir further said, “It is extraordinary that the state which has protected Osama Bin Laden and sheltered Mullah Omar should have the gumption to play the victim.”

India further said that Pakistan’s current state can be gauged from the fact that Hafiz Mohammed Saeed, a leader of the UN designated militant organisations Lashkar-i-Taiba, is now sought to be legitimised as a leader of a political career.

India said that Pakistan is a country whose counter terrorism policy is to mainstream and upstream terrorists by either providing safe havens to global terror leaders in its military town, or protecting them with political careers.

Replying on Pakistan PM’s comment that India refuses to implement the unanimous resolutions of the UN Security Council, which mandate a UN supervised plebiscite to enable the people of Jammu and Kashmir to freely decide their destiny, India said, “Pakistan must understand that State of Jammu and Kashmir is and will always remain an integral part of India. However much it (Pakistan) scales up cross-border terrorism, it will never succeed in undermining India’s territorial integrity.”

Earlier, Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi urged the UN to appoint a special envoy to Kashmir and warned India against pursuing the doctrine of “limited war” against his country, saying it will evoke a strong and “matching response”.

Abbasi in his maiden address to the UN General Assembly, raked up the Kashmir issue, alleging that the struggle of the people in the Valley is being “brutally suppressed” by India.

Abbasi accused India of indulging in terror activities against Pakistan and warned of a “matching response” if it “ventures across the LoC (Line of Control)” or acts upon its “doctrine of limited war” against his country.

“The Kashmir dispute should be resolved justly, peacefully and expeditiously. As India is unwilling to resume the peace process with Pakistan, we call on the Security Council to fulfil its obligation to secure the implementation of its own resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir,” he added.